Restrictions continued this week on poultry moving in and out of Saskatchewan after confirmation of avian influenza in a broiler breeder operation.
All 50,000 birds at Pedigree Poultry near Regina Beach, northwest of Regina, had been destroyed by Sept. 30, three days after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic H7N3 strain of the virus on Sept. 27.
This strain is not known to cause serious illness in humans.
“I want to emphasize that we are not dealing with the H5N1 virus that is linked to human illness in Asia and other parts of the world,” said Sandra Stephens, veterinary program specialist with the agency.
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“However, the virus we’ve detected can cause significant illness and death in domestic poultry.”
Carbon dioxide gas was pumped into the barns to destroy the birds. They were expected to be buried in a deep pit on the owner’s property.
The operation will remain under quarantine for at least 21 days after the barns are cleaned and disinfected, Stephens said Oct. 1.
It could be a month before the barns house birds again.
A small noncommercial flock located within the three kilometre infected zone is also quarantined as a precaution and six other backyard flocks are being monitored.
Movement of birds, bird products and farm equipment within a 10 km restricted region could require permits. No birds can move out of the province or into the infected zone until the quarantines are lifted.
Stephens said swabs from the monitored birds would detect the live virus and blood samples would indicate past infections.
This information could determine how the contagious virus got into the barns. Wild waterfowl are the natural hosts of avian influenza.
“Every spring and fall we have the situation of being at risk,” Stephens said, referring to migration.
However, Pedigree Poultry, as with most other commercial operations, is a confined barn.
“Contagious disease situations are unpredictable and rarely straightforward,” Stephens said. “We are currently investigating the movement of birds, bird products and any other items that may have carried virus to or from the infected premises.”
The most likely sources are shoes, clothing or equipment that carried the live virus into the barn, which points to a breach in biosecurity protocol.
The owner of Pedigree Poultry called a veterinarian Sept. 23 to report symptoms and unusually high mortality. Stephens said the birds had swollen combs, wattles and legs.
Because the operation produces eggs for hatcheries, where they are incubated, hatched and then sent to broiler barns, the virus could not make its way into the human food chain.
“If it’s on the outside of the egg it will not survive the temperatures that are in the incubator,” Stephens said.
“If the virus is inside the egg it will actually kill the embryo, so you would never have a chick that’s positive.”
Still, Canada’s trading partners moved to restrict imports.
The United States, Taiwan and Hong Kong all suspended imports from Saskatchewan, while Japan, South Korea and China banned Canadian imports.
Lisa Bishop-Spencer of the Chicken Farmers of Canada said that in 2006 Saskatchewan exported to Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Africa and Georgia. Total Canadian exports are about 7.5 percent of annual production of about one billion kilograms.
She noted the outbreak occurred in an isolated area compared to the rest of the industry and in a barn that doesn’t produce chicken.
“Frankly, we’d prefer no bans,” said Bishop-Spencer. “It would be nice if the countries would take a closer look at the situation and make their determinations accordingly.”
In 2004, an outbreak of H7N3 in British Columbia resulted in the cull of 17 million birds.
